Aguri Kusugami
Aguri Kusugami (楠神 哀空吏 Kusugami Aguri) is a Makai Knight and one of the supporting characters in ''Garo ~ Yami o Terasu Mono ~'', ''carrying the title of '''Gai, the Sky Bow Knight' (天弓騎士・牙射（ガイ） Tenkyū Kishi - Gai, lit. "Shooting Fang"). He would later return as one of the characters in Garo ~ Kami no Kiba ~. Character History Aguri is one of the three Makai Knights summoned by the Makai Priest Burai to Vol City in order to uncover a large Horror conspiracy. Upon meeting Ryuga Dougai, he immediately adopts a rather dismissive attitude towards him, due to the lost prestige of the Garo title. During one of his missions, he orders Rian around to place magic charms across different areas. It's there that he accidentally encounters both Ryuga and Takeru Jakuzure, revealing that his mission is connected with the rumors of the naked woman appearing in the Vol City sewers. Despite this, he leaves the two Makai Knights completely in the dark about his plans, which becomes more complicated when Takeru gets trapped by the naked women who turn into a giant Horror. Aguri eventually destroys the Horror as Gai, but afterward, he berates Takeru for getting put in that situation, while also mocking Ryuga for Garo's lost shine, stating that he's the only Makai Knight needed in the city, a statement immediately shot down by Burai, diffusing the situation. Despite his condescending attitude, Aguri does assist the others in their other missions, including the situation where they rescued the Suzaki family from a Madou Horror threat, under the guise of a housing project, only for them to go missing days later, with the exception of Rui. Still, he warns Takeru after the latter mellows down due to his affection for the girl. Aguri even assists Ryuga when he was branded as a murderer in the city, aiding him alongside Takeru in battle against Sonshi, though they would still be massively overwhelmed despite the three-on-one advantage. After Burai successfully creates a Madou Horror detector out of Rivera's tongue, the team would proceed to hunt down other Madou Horrors. However, Aguri begins to doubt himself due to his attacks not doing any damage to an enemy Madou Horror. He then requests his leave and plans to return to the Senate, but is visited by Ryuga during his archery training. Despite Ryuga's efforts to help, Aguri dismisses and even gets angry at him, revealing to him the pressures he feels about not being able to live up to his bloodline. He then puts his leave on hold, however, as he aids the group in raiding the Kaneshiro Foods Factory and upon learning that the plant is for packaging human souls into capsules, opts to trigger the emergency alarm to have the innocent staff evacuated, despite the possibility of jeopardizing the mission due to SG1 arriving in minutes. Upon confronting the same Madou Horror, Aguri heeds Ryuga's advice and forces multiple arrows onto the Horror as Ryuga destroys it. Once the team recovers all of the human souls, the Makai Knights hold a ceremonial funeral, releasing the souls to the afterlife. After learning that Tousei Kaneshiro is pulling the strings behind all of the Madou Horror activities in the city, Aguri joins his team in storming the Kaneshiro office, where he would be transported, alongside his allies, to an ancient Makai temple, confronting the rest of the Madou Horrors. After essentially botching their raid, Aguri is the only one to come out unscathed as he assists a wounded Takeru back to their hideout. When he learns of Ryuga's prison break, he correctly predicts that Ryuga would head straight for the Garoken despite unfavorable odds. He promptly sets out to Ryuga's aid despite the group being in no shape to fight after their last ordeal. After regrouping, formulating, and executing another plan to save Rian, Aguri sees the tides turning as they also expose Rivera as a Madou Horror to the SG1 before defeating her. Aguri then receives a special Soul Metal Arrowhead marked with the Kusugami crest from Burai. Upon learning about Zedom's eventual revival, Sonshi appears before the Makai Knights and engages them once again. Aguri and Takeru initially fight off the Madou Horror before Ryuga joins them and even out the odds, finally ending with Ryuga slaying Sonshi and regaining the Garo armor's golden shine. As Zedom finally revives by killing Burai and absorbing Sonshi's body, the Makai Knights confront him, with Aguri using the Soul Metal Arrowhead to further weaken Zedom during their final battle. As Ryuga dons the Gold Garo Armor, its light resonates with the Gai Armor, turning it gold as well, resulting with the three Makai Knights successfully destroying Zedom. Once Vol City is saved, Aguri parts ways with his friends to join the Senate. However, wanting to hone his skills further before going, Aguri takes over Rian's duty as Vol City's protector, while also guarding the Makai Temple so she can travel with Ryuga. Personality & Character Initially, Aguri comes off as standoffish and somewhat arrogant, treating his fellow Makai Knights in a less respectful manner as he presumes they're unable to grasp the depths of his intellectual intentions. He even antagonizes Ryuga to some extent, seeing as how the prestige of the Garo title has diminished in his hands and berates Takeru for his womanizing ways. Despite being told to cooperate by Burai, he does not mingle well with the others and at some point, even pressures Rian to doing his grunt work, much to her chagrin. In truth, Aguri secretly worries that he cannot live up to his family's lineage, as seen as when he doubts himself after his arrows could not pierce a Madou Horror. It is until he remembers Ryuga's words about using all his abilities to the fullest that he's able to overcome his setbacks and finally opens up with the rest of his group as a Makai Knight that is both compassionate and has a strong sense of justice. Skills & Abilities As part of his family's lineage, Aguri's skills lie predominantly in his archery abilities, as noted by Ryuga that being able to shoot arrows rapidly is one of the basics of the Kusugami Style of Archery Techniques. Due to archery being a long-ranged style of combat, Aguri favors a more tactical and strategy-based approach in defeating Horrors. Besides this, Aguri is trained as a Makai Knight and is very adept in conventional styles of combat, capable of beating down and destroying many Horrors with his bladed Makai Bow or Bo Staff. Gai, the Sky Bow Knight As a Makai Knight, Aguri is given the title of The Sky Bow Knight. With this, he can don the blue Gai Makai Armor. He does this by holding his bladed bow in front of him and twirling it twice, forming two circles at his side. The circles open the portals where the armor equips on him, completing the transformation. A notable trait is that Aguri often removes his glasses when he dons the armor. When transformed, the Soul Metal Arrows also become magically-charged, allowing him to destroy even large Horrors in just one shot. Arsenal *Makai Bow - Unique amongst Makai Knights, Aguri wields a dual-bladed bow which he uses for melee combat and for summoning his Makai Armor. His bow can also detach itself into two blades. *Soul Metal Arrows - Aguri also carries a myriad of arrows made of Soul Metal for destroying Horrors long-ranged. Initially, he only carried a limited number of arrows under his duster so that it doesn't limit his movement. In Garo ~ Kami no Kiba ~, his arrows can now retract into small bullets, allowing him to carry more in his person. *Bo Staff - In the film, Aguri also carries a Bo Staff which he uses to fight off multiple Horrors at once. *Glasses - Aguri requires glasses to correct his vision for accurate firing. However, the glasses are magically enhanced. The left side of the glasses, when tapped, reveals a secondary function that overlaps the lens like shades to detect certain discrepancies beyond regular human vision. This also allows him to see enemy Horrors' weak points which he can take advantage of with his archery. Behind the Scenes Portrayal * Aguri Kusugami was portrayed by Tsunenori Aoki. He would later portray Professor /Kamen Rider Duke in . Picture Gallery Kusugami.png|Aguri Kusugami Gai I.png|Makai Armor Gai Gai Arrow.png * External Links Category:Characters Category:Garo ~ Yami o Terasu Mono ~